Order of the Butterflies
by Intuitive Dreamer
Summary: An oppressive empire has risen in the Digital World, and have brainwashed most of the Digidestined. Koushiro, Mimi, Takeru & Hikari join a cult bent on destroying the empire and saving their friends. 1st chapter is just a prologue... 4th chapter is up.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

**Prologue**

Out in the desert region of the Digital World lays a dusty, old western town.

A swarm of dark colored, red-eyed Digimon, consisting of Numemon and Nanimon, with a few Vegiemon, and they came storming straight for this old western town.

In a wooden cottage lying near the entrance of the town guards the western town from the swarm of evil Digimon.

Within the cottage is dark, only the windows provide light.

"How long until they get here?" asks a pink-haired girl, she's in the washroom, changing clothes.

A red-haired boy, the same age as the girl, adjusts his headset: like headphones, except with metal antennas sticking straight out of the earpieces. A black, rubber gas mask was hanging around his neck like a necklace, and a set of plastic safety goggles rested on his forehead. In his shadow, it almost made him appear, like a beetle.

The red-head boy replies, "5, maybe, 10 minutes," he stares at the pink-haired girl's back for a split-second, eyeing a green-colored tattoo of the crest of sincerity lays on the right-side of her back.

As she puts on a white blouse, the red-head looks outside. And the red-head says, "I take that back, maybe 3,"

"Geez, Koushiro, that headset of yours needs some repairs," the girl comments as she bundles up her long pink-hair into a bunch.

Koushiro snickers, "I'm not the one that has to fight, Mimi,"

Mimi went up to an old, oak chest-of-drawers, and opened one of the drawers, and took out a sub-machine gun. As she cocked and loaded it, "Just for saying that I'm going to kick you out,"

"You know you don't mean that," Koushiro slyly smiled.

Mimi then took out a shotgun, and took out some rounds. She stared into Koushiro's eyes, and teasingly said, "Do I?"

Koushiro responded coolly, "I'm going out for a smoke, see you then,"

Mimi didn't pay attention as she swung the sub-machine gun behind her back, and held the shotgun in her arms. The silence in the cottage was broken by the clatter her boots made as she walked into a different room.

Koushiro waited outside, and calmly stood to the side of the wooden porch. Wearing brown shorts and a white tee-shirt with a yellow smiley face, and an opened orange over shirt, Koushiro waited for the mob of evil, angry Digimon to come right to the doorstep.

The mob stopped right in front of the cottage, laughing.

Koushiro didn't respond, as one of the evil Digimon yelled, "This isn't going to be much a fight!"

Koushiro didn't flinch, as another of the evil Digimon hollered, "He doesn't look that strong!"

Koushiro didn't cringe, as another of the evil Digimon shouted, "I'm a little disappointed, there doesn't seem to be enough meat on the human!"

After another few comments, Koushiro only started to laugh and smiled, "I'm not the one you should be worrying about!"

That left the swarm confused, looking at each other, until they heard the revving-up of a motorcycle. They looked around wondering where it came from; it was too late for them to realize that it came from within the cottage.

Out of nowhere, BOOM! Mimi rode her motorcycle right out of the cottage front door. Koushiro simply chuckled. Mimi started to run over quite a few of the evil Digimon.

As she did so, Koushiro brought out his cigarette box, and opened it.

The evil Digimon started to retaliate as Mimi parked her motorcycle from behind. Some did a futile ranged attack, others tried to ram her.

As they did so, Koushiro toyed with the cigarettes inside, sloshing them around the box, until finally he decided he needed to smoke, and grabbed one of them with his teeth.

Mimi skillfully took out pistols, one in each hand, and started shooting mercilessly at the evil Digimon. Aiming at two Digimon… BANG! BANG! Another two Digimon… BANG! BANG! And again to another pair…

As she did so, Koushiro adjusted the cigarette in his mouth, and got out a lighter. When lit, he sucked in a hefty amount, and exhaled a constant stream of cigarette smoke. He took out the cigarette as he exhaled and leaned against the wooden railing with one foot, Koushiro watched the battle ensue.

When the ammo in her pistols ran out, she dropped them where she stood, and produced a sub-machine gun. As Mimi walked slowly towards the cottage, she mowed down any oncoming evil Digimon.

When Koushiro took in a few more puffs of smoke, a luminescent butterfly started flying over to him. Koushiro watched curiously as it landed on his shoulder. He nudged the butterfly to crawl on his finger, and took off his beetle-like headset.

Finally, when the sub-machine gun ran out of ammo, there was only 3 or 4 evil Vegiemon left, and they charged at her. Mimi produced a shotgun as she dropped her sub-machine gun, and ruthlessly began cocking her shotgun, and firing. Cocking her shotgun and firing again. Then there was only one, wounded evil Vegiemon crawling on the dusty ground, along the deceased bodies of his evil compatriots.

Koushiro positioned the butterfly close to his ear, and acted like he was listening to the butterfly.

The evil Digimon winced with pain, "Blackwargreymon will take care of you! He took care of your friends, you're next just wait!"

Mimi didn't say anything as she walked to the evil Digimon, stuck the barrel of her weapon in his face, and then shot him. As she did so, Koushiro goaded the butterfly to fly away. Mimi watched the bright butterfly, float past her and up into the clear, blue sky. Then she looked at Koushiro intent on hearing what the butterfly told him.

Koushiro took a last few puffs, dropped his cigarette, and crushed it with his worn-out tennis shoes. Finally, he told Mimi, "We've been ordered, to go pick up TK and Kari," then Koushiro jumped off the porch. As Koushiro walked to Mimi, he put on his beetle-like headphones.

He then proceeded to brush off some of the dust that dirtied her blouse, and complemented her, "Good job, couldn't of done it better myself,"

Mimi smiled softly, "Let's go,"

Just as Mimi jumped on her motorcycle putting on her Rayban sunglasses, with Koushiro, placing the plastic safety goggles over his eyes, and sat behind her on it, the local Digimon went up to them, "Thank You! You saved us! Thank You!" they cheered and hollered.

And just as they started to ride out of the town, Mimi replied, "Your welcome," and Koushiro kindly yelling, "Any time!"

The pair rode out of the town, picking up a cloud of dust in their tracks, as they rode into the sunset.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon

**Chapter 1 **

Taichi was running around his apartment, trying to clean it up anyway he can. Finally, he decided to stuff any unwanted clothing under the rugs, and dirty dishes under the sink. Then the doorbell rang, and Taichi yelled, "I'm coming," he ran towards the door, and took a few seconds to spruce up himself. He opened the door and happily introduced himself, "Hi guys, welcome to my new home!"

Yamato and Sora met him at the door, and they were equally pleased to Taichi. They handed him some housewarming trinkets and a fruit basket, then the duo walked in. Yamato was surprised to see a wide-screen TV in Taichi's new apartment and flattered Taichi, "You must be pretty good friends with the Minister here! I wasn't given this kind of stuff when I moved in!"

Sora was amazed at the furnishings that this 'Minister' provided Taichi with, and she commented the place, "It looks just like your home back in the Real World! Our Minister certainly knows us very well!"

Taichi chuckled, "The compliments are appreciated guys! Here," Taichi motioned them to sit down on his couch, "I'll go get some fruit-pops," and he ran to the kitchen to go get some treats.

Sora sat properly on the couch, while Yamato sat casually. Yamato looked at the uniforms that they were required to wear. He looked at himself first, and saw a white buttoned office shirt with dark pants. Then Yamato looked at Sora, and saw a white buttoned blouse with a dark skirt. Then Yamato looked at Tai, and found him wearing his white office shirt, but in a disheveled manner.

Yamato informed Taichi the misconducts for wearing his uniform like that, "I don't know what regulations you guys follow on File Island, but here in Mechanical City, the Minister punishes you quite severely if he finds you wearing your uniform like that!"

Taichi came in with a plate full of colorful fruit pops, and smiled warmly, "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. I'm in the privacy of my own room!"

Before Sora licked her fruit pop, she informed Taichi, "I wouldn't be so sure; our Minister can be quite paranoid at times. He may even be spying on us right now,"

Taichi tried to change the subject, "Well! Let's not talk about something so grim while in my new home, shall we?" Taichi offered them to watch the news on his new wide-screen TV. Yamato and Sora both nodded politely, and Taichi sat down with them and turned it on with his remote.

Sora smiled when she saw who the TV News anchor was, "Look! That's my Dark-Biyomon up there!"

Yamato respectfully said, "Your Dark-Biyomon must make quite a few _Bytes_,"

Sora nodded, "Yeah, she's planning on saving up our _Bytes_, for a new computer,"

Taichi asked, "How much does it cost? I'm thinking of asking my Digimon to spend a few _Bytes_ on a computer,"

Sora pondered a bit, while licking her fruit pop, "Hmm, I think we're buying one that costs around 1 _Megabyte_,"

Taichi gaped at Sora, as Yamato hollered, "Dark-Biyomon must make a fortune!"

Sora nods politely again, and the three quiet down to hear the latest new announcements.

However, Dark-Biyomon looked different compared to the original Biyomon she was, as the exotic blue color that was on her feathers faded away, and the dominant pink, became a dull grey. A hue of red could be found in Dark-Biyomon's eyes as well.

_And now for Breaking News_, then Dark-Biyomon started to clear her voice, and looked out to her viewers, _Just recently the assault on Western Town had a minor set-back. The first wave was repulsed almost instantaneously, but General Blackwargreymon assures the Public, that they'll absorb the Digimon in Western Town within the week. The set-back was due to the unexpected arrival of Butterfly rebels, but again the General assures us that the Butterfly rebels will be properly disposed of in a month._

Sora asked, "Hey, Taichi, isn't Blackwargreymon, your Digimon?"

Taichi, full of pride, told the two, "Yep, I was transferred here because my Blackwargreymon was ordered to absorb Digimon in this sector,"

Yamato was envious, "Geez, you guys have such famous Digimon, my Dark-Gabumon only does labor work up in the Frozen Tundra,"

Sora tried to remind Yamato, "Yeah, but you can make quite a bit of Bytes for doing labor work up there,"

Yamato said, "I guess," then Yamato asked Taichi, "Hey Tai. How come your Digimon remains on Mega-level, while ours don't have that privilege?"

Taichi thought about it for a bit, then said, "Well, I'm pretty sure it's because he's got an important job. Just think he's got to be big and strong to fight off those rebels. And simply fighting enemies as Dark-Agumon, just doesn't do the trick,"

After all three of them finished their fruit pops, Taichi decided to ask, "What are these, Butterfly rebels anyway? I never hear this kind of stuff back at File Island,"

Sora simply waved it off as a nuisance, "They're a cult. They call themselves the Order of Butterflies, and they rant on and on about a giant butterfly as their god. They believe that humans should coexist with Digimon, not be ruled by Digimon,"

Taichi laughed out loud, "Coexist? With Digimon? How archaic!"

Yamato agreed, "Yes, it is. And that's probably why they're rebellion is going to be put down soon,"

And Sora flattered Taichi, "Thanks to our friend's Digimon war hero!"

* * *

A rest stop can be found along a dusty, old highway. People can come here to rest a little then get some supplies, for the long journey out into the desert.

The rest stop itself was unusual. As it looked like a convenient store from a city, except it wasn't in the city but out in the middle of a desert. (But then again, that's because it was in the Digital World)

Two teenagers, wearing white robes with hoods, walked towards the convenient store, when they arrived the taller one motioned the smaller one to wait for him outside. When inside, the taller one kept his hood on, grabbed a couple canisters of water and placed them on the counter to purchase.

A grey, wolf-like Digimon, called Gazimon appeared, and asked for 20 _bytes_. The taller one rummaged through his pocket, and then counted out the correct amount of coins. He handed the Lopmon 2 octagonal-shaped coins. After which, the Gazimon asked, "Would you like a bag?" but the taller one simply carried the two canisters out, making sure he didn't communicate with the Digimon.

When outside, the taller one realized that his companion was nowhere to be found. Dropping the canisters of water, he started to search for his companion. He looked to his right and to his left, but tried not to scream. It appeared to be more important not to attract attention then to find his companion. He looked behind the building, and was grabbed. The taller one panicked and started to kick his way out of his captor's restrains.

Until he heard a familiar voice, "TK you gotta relax, it's just me,"

Takeru stopped resisting, and looked up to find Mimi smiling down at him. He smiled and almost yelled out, "Mi-" but was silenced by her hand.

Takeru knew why he shouldn't have yelled out then, and worked his mouth out of Mimi's hand to quietly ask, "Where's Koushiro and Hikari?"

Mimi whispered, "They're around that corner," and she took off Takeru's hood, to reveal a blonde blue-eyed teenager. Mimi commented on his appearance, "You look like you haven't taken a shower in days!" then Mimi continued to lick her finger and rub off some of the dirt on Takeru's face. Takeru was taken aback at this motherly like attitude, before all he could remember of Mimi was her selfish attitude. Takeru stopped Mimi with her motherly gesture, and teased her, "Well, MOM, can I go hang out with Hikari and Uncle Koushiro?"

Mimi played along, "Very well, I'll be in the store, but don't wander off; this isn't a safe place to be these days!"

And Takeru ran around the corner expecting to find the same nerdy, Koushiro. But instead found him smoking, and was taken aback by this laid back persona that Koushiro had right now. Koushiro leaned against the wall of the convenient store, and lightly pounded his fist against the wall, while the other hand was used to hold a freshly lit cigarette.

The brown-haired girl called Hikari didn't seem to mind as much. As she was more interested in what Koushiro and Mimi were up to, "So what were you guys doing when you left us?"

While tapping his cigarette, he replied, "Oh, you know, wandering from one place to another, helping Digimon in need. That kind of thing,"

Takeru pointed at the cigarette Koushiro was smoking, "What's up with the smoking?"

Koushiro looked at the cigarette and replied, "This? It's a habit I started a while back,"

Then Takeru pointed to Koushiro's beetle-like headset, "What's that on you head?" and then to his goggles and gas mask, "And what are those for?"

Koushiro laughed a bit, "It's a headset I made myself, I can use it to enhance my hearing. If you were to talk the same volume right now, except 50 miles away, then I can understand you completely," then he proceeded to point up to his goggles and gas mask, "This stuff I found lying around in a house, no one was, well, let's say available at the time, so I just took it. But I must admit, I find it very useful when in combat,"

Hikari astounded asked, "In combat?"

Koushiro replied, "Yeah, there's a lot more unfriendly Digimon then when we left you two,"

Hikari hopefully asked, "Are they all gone now?"

Koushiro's expression dimmed for a bit, he sighed as he dropped the cigarette to the ground, "I'll be honest it's gotten worse. That virus is on the verge of taking over the entire continent. At this rate, the entire Digital World will be under control of the Digital Empire in a year,"

Takeru and Hikari looked at each other, and then Takeru asked, "The Digital Empire?"

Koushiro nodded, "Yeah, a dictatorship ruled by Digimon. They use this virus to force other Digimon and humans to submit, to obey them and carry out his orders without question,"

Hikari pointed out, "Just like those dark gears when we were here a few years ago,"

Koushiro nodded, "Exactly, and the only thing the dictatorship believes in is that Digimon are superior to humans, and that they should rule us,"

Takeru asked, "Koushiro, what happened to the rest of the group?"

Hikari wanted to know as well, "Yeah, where's Taichi?

Koushiro seemed trouble hearing them ask, and he said, "Brainwashed,"

Takeru asked, "Yamato?"

Koushiro only shook his head that time.

Hikari asked, "Then what about Sora or Jyou?"

Koushiro shook his head, and said, "Don't bother asking about Iori, Daisuke, or Miyako; I have no idea where the hell they are. Probably brainwashed, their Digimon too,"

Takeru was troubled by the news, but then appealed to Koushiro for one more question, "What about Patomon?"

Koushiro replied, "Our Digimon aren't on this continent, but if we don't stop the empire soon, they will be brainwashed,"

And in a few seconds, the trio heard a gun discharge. Koushiro's first reaction was to duck, but when he realized that it came from within the convenient store, he rushed for the entrance. Takeru and Hikari were frightened at first, but soon followed Koushiro. When they entered the store, all they found was a dead Gazimon, starting to dematerialize, and a recently fired gun held by Mimi. Her face showed a fearsome composure, but it lightened up at the sight of Takeru and Hikari.

Takeru asked, "W-why did you kill him?"

Mimi pointed to the phone that was near the dead Gazimon.

Koushiro understood what took place. But Takeru and Hikari were troubled, "Why did you have to kill him? He wasn't part of the Empire!" Takeru yelled.

Koushiro defended Mimi, "There's a cash reward on our heads right now Takeru. When he saw Mimi enter the store, he tried to call in the Digimon Police Force for that reward,"

Hikari was shocked, so Takeru spoke for her, "But did you have to kill him? Mimi! What happened to you?"

Mimi coldly said, "Takeru, I've watched your brother show mercy to a Digimon that tried to turn him in. And you know what happened? A few moments later, the Police Force came in, and took him away, along with Sora too. And they never had a chance!"

Takeru responded angrily, "Well, you could've tied him up or something! You didn't have to kill him!"

While Takeru and Mimi were arguing about the ethics of killing, and while Hikari was staring at the deceased Gazimon dematerialize, a luminescent butterfly fluttered its way into the store. When it landed on Koushiro's finger, Koushiro took off his headset and acted like he was listening to it again. But this time, he gave a face full of surprise while listening to it. He goaded the butterfly to fly away, and walked in between the arguing two.

Koushiro explained, "It seems that Gazimon got through either way, a Police squad is heading this way right now, we got to go!"

Hikari stared at the luminescent butterfly, and was mesmerized by its elegance, as it flew away. She found herself calm, and at peace when staring at the butterfly, and all the anxiety, the feelings of disgust and horror melted away, and were filled with tranquility.

Her Trans was broken when Koushiro started to push Hikari out the door, along with Mimi who was carrying Takeru in her arms.

Koushiro yelled, "We have to go through the desert!"

Mimi asked, "What about my motorcycle?"

Koushiro replied, "Leave it! It won't work in the sand!"

Mimi abhorred the sound of that, "Ugh, I just repaired it too!"

Then the group set out for the nothingness that was the desert, in the meantime the luminescent butterfly flew higher and higher into the sky, until it could see the world below it, and continued to fly somewhere else, perhaps, intended to warn off another group of Digidestined that escaped the Empire.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon**

**Chapter 2**

In the bareness of the desert, the four set out for what Koushiro believes to be a safe house. He claims that it's only a few miles, and there are enough supplies in it to help finish the journey through the desert.

While they were walking up the sand dunes, Koushiro realized that he just ran out of cigarettes.

Koushiro curses "Damn it!", peers inside his cigarette box, and starts to moan of his deprivation of nicotine, while the others have to listen to his complaints as they head for the safe house.

Takeru listened intently to Koushiro's complaints from behind, and Hikari and Mimi made up the front; she whispered to Mimi, "I can't believe him,"

Mimi took in a big gulp of water from her canister while they were walking. As Mimi was wiping her mouth, she told Hikari, "Yeah, he always moans when he doesn't get enough cigarettes,"

Hikari gave a look at Mimi, "You mean this is normal?"

Mimi grinned, "Yeah, he usually smokes 5 packs of cigarettes a day. If he doesn't get at least 6 cigarettes smoked within an hour, he acts a bit enraged,"

Hikari motioned Mimi for the canister of water, which Mimi handed to her. Before she swigged the water down her parched throat, Hikari asked, "Since when did Koushiro start smoking?"

Mimi shrugged, "Eh, probably a week or so after we left you guys on your own,"

Hikari tossed the canister back to Mimi, and in response, Mimi waved the canister in the air for the boys in the back to see, "You guys want some?"

And the only response was a dose of Koushiro's wrath, "Does it look like I need water? What I need is cigarettes woman!"

Mimi muttered, "You won't get any with that attitude…"

Koushiro heard the comment, and his eyes immediately lit up, "Does that mean you have some?"

"Koushiro," Mimi sternly inquired, "have you ever seen me smoke?"

But Koushiro ignored the question, "Do you have any?"

Mimi didn't bother to say anything after that, she just kept on walking. Koushiro bothered her at first, badgering her for cigarettes, but later he reverted back to his moaning self. When the moaning continued, Hikari asked, "Why does he smoke? Doesn't he know it's bad for him?"

Mimi thought for a bit, putting the finger to her lower lip, she pondered a little, why DID Koushiro smoke? Finally she composed an answer, "He claims it calms his nerves,"

Hikari asked, "Calms his nerves from what?"

Mimi replied, "Well, waiting for your target to come can be nerve-racking,"

"What?"

"Oh," Mimi realized, "you weren't fighting the Empire, sorry I forgot. What I meant was, Koushiro was involved in some raids, army convoys to be exact. He'd set traps and ambushes with the rest of the Order of Butterflies, but waiting for your target to reach your position could last a lifetime, it really did a number on him,"

"In what way?"

Mimi looked back into the past, and remembered, "Like this one time, his job was to set mines for one convoy. Koushiro got so nervous, he worried about whether they would work or not, so he checked the mines at least 3 times, the 2nd time he almost set off a mine. Koushiro was ordered to stay away from the mines at that point. Unfortunately he couldn't resist, and the 3rd time he checked the mines, the convoy practically ran over him,"

Hikari gasped, "Was he okay?"

Mimi waved the whole thing as 'nothing special', "Yeah he survived, somehow the mines didn't go off, so we had to take the trucks out with our guns instead. Koushiro was shaken up a bit, but he surprisingly made it without a scratch," Mimi laughed, "Yamato got so mad for Koushiro risking his life like that, I remember what he told Koushiro while back at camp," Mimi started to imitate Yamato, "'Koushiro! What the hell's wrong with you?' then he punched Koushiro in the face, 'not only would you have yourself killed, all of us could've been just saving your sorry-ass! If you don't find a way to shape up, I'm going to kill you myself!' and the next week, I found Koushiro smoking, and that anxiety of his never showed up again,"

Hikari shuddered at the thought of Yamato being so violent, "Why was Yamato so mean?"

Mimi explained to Hikari, "That night Yamato was only grouchy since our food supply trucks were taken out,"

"By the Empire?"

Mimi burst out laughing, "No! By us!"

"You mean you shot at your own people?"

Mimi feigned innocence, "Well, they shouldn't of made their disguises so well! We really thought they were the enemy,"

"Was anyone hurt?"

"Oh, no, no, a few had some gunshot wounds here and there, but nothing fatal," Mimi continued laughing, "By the time we figured out that the trucks were full of our food, Koushiro got an anti-tank gun and shot our sushi to kingdom-come!"

Koushiro defended himself, "That's because Sora ordered me to!"

Mimi jokingly said, "Sure Koushiro, and at the moment you picked up the damn thing Sora yelled at you to not fire on the trucks!"

Koushiro tried to counteract that statement, but couldn't muster up a good argument in return; so, in a few minutes, he simply returned to his moaning stage, and complained to Takeru about his lack of cigarettes, "I'm telling you Takeru, if I don't get cigarettes soon, I'm gonna rip Mimi's head off!"

Takeru gave a face to Koushiro, "Why so violent?"

Koushiro yelled back, "Because I NEED cigarettes, it's not a luxury for me, if I don't get it soon. Oh, I'm seriously going to flip a bitch!"

Takeru suggested, "Did you check your pockets by any chance?"

Koushiro doubtfully checked his pockets, "It can't be there, I'm sure I checked a few minutes ago- HOLY CRAP, a cigarette!" Koushiro delicately took it to his mouth, and carefully lit the cigarette with his lighter. In just a few puffs, he sighed, "Thank God! I thought I was going to lose it!"

Takeru then asked, "Why do you get so… erratic without cigarettes?"

Koushiro took in a few drags and replied, "Well, it all started as just a way to pass the time, you know, relieve some stress? But after a while it became more like an addiction, like something I depended on to get me through the day. It's shameful how I act without them; I know I shouldn't act that way but I can't help it,"

"Are you ever going to consider, oh I don't know, maybe STOPPING?"

"I told you, I need them to get through the day?"

"What?"

"Well, I mean, just thinking about the situation the Digital World is in now is stressful enough, fighting against a stronger foe, well, my stress levels are off the charts,"

"Will you stop when this mess is settled with?"

Koushiro optimistically told him, "Of course! By that time, I wouldn't worry about my friends dying or being brainwashed, if everything works out well, I'd actually have time to get through the withdrawal symptoms, but right now would be a mistake for me. If I go through withdrawal right now, I'll be so agitated, so paranoid, so angered, that I'll probably kill anyone I see in front of me,"

"Just like Mimi would,"

"Exactly!"

"Speaking of which, what happened to Mimi?"

"What do you mean?"

"She seems so… unlike herself,"

Koushiro stared at Mimi from behind, observed her for a bit and commented, "She appears normal to me,"

"No she's not! You saw the body of that Gazimon she killed! You saw her careless expression on her face after she pulled the trigger! That's not the Mimi I know!"

"Well, I don't blame her,"

"You should! It isn't right to kill a Digimon like that! What Gazimon did was wrong, but still! Killing him?"

Koushiro silently said, "Takeru there's something I need to tell you,"

Takeru screamed, "WHAT?"

Koushiro stolidly looked at Takeru, "You remember what Mimi told you about how Yamato showed mercy to a Digimon that tried to turn him in?"

Takeru nodded.

"Do you remember that she said that Yamato and Sora were kidnapped by that very Digimon shortly after?"

Takeru nodded.

"Well it wasn't just Yamato and Sora, they took Mimi too," Takeru fell silent as Koushiro continued, "By the time I formed a rescue team and broke into the brainwashing facility they already got Sora and your brother. But Mimi, they almost had her, we almost lost her," Koushiro sighed, then took in another drag, "She wasn't the ditzy, carefree girl I knew anymore, after what they did to her, she never was the same. She started to doubt the word of a Digimon, to this day I wonder if she even trusts Palmon anymore. It just isn't right what they did to her, Mimi has every right to question a Digimon, their honesty, their loyalty. It just isn't right, not right at all what they did..."

Takeru still tried to make his point, "But still-"

"But nothing!" Kourshiro spat on the sandy ground, "Do you know what it's like being brainwashed by the Empire? Well it isn't pleasant; it isn't a walk in the freakin' park! They torture you, they attach all these little wires to your head, they operate on your brain while you're still alive and feeling every damn part of it they touch with their little surgical instruments!" Koushiro threw his cigarette on the sand, and stomped on it ferociously, Koushiro passionately defended Mimi's actions, "They make you watch, 5 hours straight, about how great the Empire is, how wonderful it is, how better off you'll be as their slave!"

"Hellooo!" Mimi yelled, then Koushiro lost the rage, the burning feeling he developed inside of him, and looked to the general direction the scream came from. Apparently Mimi and Hikari walked a bit further ahead, and were standing at the very top of a sand dune, "We found the safe house! If you don't want to sleep in the sand at night you better hurry up!"

Koushiro responded, "Right, sorry, we'll be there in a nanosec!"

And as Koushiro ran up the sand dune, Hikari noticed something, she thought about what she heard, 'in a nanosec', and Hikari smiled, since that was the Koushiro she remembered, even if he was that way only for a 'nanosec', it still meant a lot to her. Because that meant, that there still is some nerdy Koushiro still left in him.

And as Mimi yelled out hello in a playful manner, Takeru also noticed something, he thought about what he heard, 'Hellooo!', and then he smiled, as that was the Mimi he remembered, the carefree, playful Mimi; the Mimi that sincerely loved her friends. Takeru was happy, because that meant that there still is some ditzy Mimi still left in her after all.


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon**

**Chapter 3**

"Make yourself at home!" Koushiro yells as he entered his safe house, it was literally a concrete cube, buried deep inside one of the sand dunes. When Takeru and Hikari climbed down into the concrete cube, all they could see was… nothing, there were no windows, and there didn't seem to be any lights, all they saw was pitch blackness.

Takeru inquired about the living conditions, "Why is it so dark?"

Koushiro could be heard within the darkness, "Hold on," and then everyone in the room could hear the sound of a button pushed, and the turning of gears. After a while, light was becoming visible slowly but steadily; and soon enough, long rectangular windows shown the sand dunes and the clear, blue sky in front of them. Hikari looked around; she found a dusty concrete room, with 4 mats rolled up in one corner, a radio on top of a desk on another, then a few barrels of water and vacuum-packed snacks in another corner, and in the last corner was an emergency kit. Hikari didn't say anything, but she did show a disdain for the conditions, along with Takeru as well. Koushiro sensed their disdain, and openly defended his position, "Hey, if you don't like it, you can go outside and sleep in the sand. I don't think it'll be enjoyable for you but I'm sure the scorpions would love to feast upon you while you're asleep!"

Mimi started to unroll all four of them on the floor, but the last mat she unrolled had a rather jumpy scorpion hiding inside, Mimi withheld the urge to complain, but gave a face remarking, "Well, there's scorpions in here too,"

Koushiro shrugged, "It's only one, no biggy,"

Hikari backed away from the scorpion, which jumped right in front of her; Takeru watched the scorpion start fidgeting away, from one place to another, it searched for a small, cramped place to dwell. Finally the scorpion climbed up the desk, and went out the nearby window.

Takeru and Hikari sat on their own individual mats and tried to sleep, while Mimi let her hair down and started to look in the mirror, using her hand as a brush. Koushiro walked up to the radio, found it broken, and took it upon himself to find out what the problem is.

Takeru couldn't sleep so he watched as Mimi feverishly brushed her hair, then asked, "Is there any particular reason you pick now to brush your hair?"

Mimi didn't look up from her mirror, but still replied, "I find this somewhat relaxing in a way; besides, it's safer than cleaning a gun in here,"

Hikari entered the conversation, "What's bothering you?"

Mimi said, "You remember the Pyramid in this desert?"

Takeru remembered, "You mean the one where Etemon's base is? The one where Sora was kidnapped and Taichi ended up in the Real World?"

Mimi nodded, "Yeah, it's not that far away from here,"

Koushiro started to fiddle with the knobs on the radio, he remarked, "We're not going there, Mimi,"

Mimi sighed as she inspected a few strands of hair, "I know, but I still want to help,"

Takeru asked, "What are you guys talking about?"

Koushiro replied, "Oh, the Order and the Empire are currently fighting there,"

Hikari looked at Koushiro, working ever so passionately on that radio, until he leaned over to examine an antenna that snapped off, and she saw the part of a purple circle on the left-side of his back, "Koushiro, what's that on your back?"

Mimi answered for Koushiro, "That's a tattoo of the Crest of Knowledge," Mimi then informed Takeru and Hikari, "I also have a tattoo but it's of the Crest of Sincerity,"

"Why?" Hikari asked, then Mimi asked, "Why what?"

Takeru then asked for Hikari, "Why do you two have a Crest on your back?"

"Eh, it's a requirement," Koushiro said as he took off his beetle-like headset, and set it on the desk, "to be a member of the Order,"

"Why?" Hikari asked again, Mimi replied, "Oh, it just proves that we're loyal that's all,"

"What is this Order anyway? It doesn't sound like any resistance movement I've ever heard of, and if they make you get tattoos then I definitely am sure that it's no ordinary rebel group," Takeru remarked.

While putting on his goggles and letting sparks fly from certain wires he connected, Koushiro told him, "That's because the Order isn't just a resistance movement, it's a religious movement,"

Hikari remarked, "I never heard of a religion that worships a giant butterfly before,"

Koushiro replied, "Eh, say what you want, but it's still all true,"

Takeru eyed a bag of potato chips lying against a barrel of water; he grabbed for it, opened it, and started eating as Hikari continued her conversation, "What do you mean it's true?"

Mimi ignored the conversation, and returned to her state of relaxation, which was for her to inspect every strand of hair she could get her hands on. Koushiro adjusted a knob, and then the whole thing turned into fireworks. Koushiro muttered, "Damn, I hope I didn't use up all the batteries…" and then turned around to face Hikari, "It's a long story, one that involves an interesting conversation with the Creator of the Digital World, we like to call him Cho, and the Digidestined after we left you guys. After a few interesting encounters with Cho, we were convinced that Cho could help us reclaim the Digital World from the Empire, so we organized ourselves into an Order, and followed Cho's commands,"

Hikari, bemused, asked, "And just how do you follow this 'Cho's' commands?" Suddenly a luminescent butterfly appeared flying through the wall, and was flapping towards Takeru. Before Takeru knew it, the butterfly was floating right in his face, and Takeru's response was to throw the bag of chips in the air and back away towards a wall as quickly as possible.

Koushiro eyed the butterfly and pointed to it, "Using that butterfly right there,"

The bag of chips was in the air for only a few moments, and then it fell right on Mimi's head. At first there was only silence, then a growling sound coming from under the bag. Mimi shouted, "Takeru! Now look what you've done!" Mimi was in Takeru's face, and she shoved her hair in his face as well to show the damage done, "Now I NEED to take a shower thanks to you! And guess what? There isn't a shower here! Now my hair smells like barbecue sauce!"

As Mimi continued haranguing Takeru, the butterfly flew around Hikari for a bit, she inspected the butterfly as it fluttered around. And then Hikari felt the same calm feeling she did the last time the butterfly was in her presence. Hikari asked, "Why do I feel so calm when I look at this butterfly?"

Koushiro responded, "That's just one of the effects it has, these messenger butterflies can be quite calming in times of battle, or at anytime at all," Koushiro held out a finger, and the butterfly landed on it obediently, Koushiro explained, "Just watch as I show Mimi the butterfly," and then he walked up to Mimi who was violently shaking Takeru for messing up her hair. When the butterfly was in Mimi's sights, she almost immediately stopped what she was doing.

Koushiro lifted the butterfly to his ear, telling Hikari, "They also make great messengers since they can go through practically anything and are hard to kill," but Koushiro's pleasant face dimmed after listening to what the butterfly had to say, Koushiro looked up to Hikari and told her, "We have to go,"

"Why?" Hikari asked, puzzled at Koushiro's sudden change of emotion.

After the butterfly started to fly away from Koushiro, he walked up to the desk and put his headset back on his head. Then Koushiro grabbed the emergency kit, swung it around his back, "That battle we were originally talking about, at The Pyramid, we lost it. And now a squadron of enemy DarkAirdramon is coming this way, we gotta leave now,"

Koushiro shoved both Mimi and Takeru up the ladder and out, he grabbed Hikari's hand, while she asked, "They can't see us from underground can they?"

As Koushiro followed behind Hikari who was climbing up the ladder, he told her, "No, but we still have to leave now, by the time the DarkAirdramon get here, we'll be completely surrounded,"

When the entire group made its way out of the safe house, Koushiro directed them to run away from the safe house. They were running as fast as they could across the sand, trying to escape captivity and being brainwashed.

Then Takeru yelled, "Where are we heading?"

Mimi replied, "Does it really matter? Anywhere but here!"

Koushiro silenced them both as they ran, "Less talking! More running!"

But by the time they reached the top of the next sand dune, the group found themselves spotted by the DarkAirdramon. Mimi yelled, "Duck!" as the DarkAirdramon swooped in, the group narrowly missed the DarkAirdramon's dive, and Hikari managed to take a good look at her enemy: the DarkAirdramon were large black dragons that flew with dark wings, much less colorful then a regular Airdramon. Its eyes glowed red and they were more aggressive than any Digimon she saw before.

Then the DarkAirdramon turned around, and the entire squadron screamed, "Spinning needle!" and spears of air were produced and fired upon the group below.

Koushiro was hit while shielding Takeru and Hikari, and clutched his arm that was gushing blood. Takeru found his ears bleeding from the sound of the Spinning Needles' impact. Hikari asked, "Is everyone okay?" as she looked up from the ground. Koushiro was in too much pain to say anything, he gasped for air as the blood started to pour out of him and onto the sand. His eye pupils shrunk to the size of peas as he screamed in pain. Mimi ran up to Koushiro and sought to tend to his wounds, but Koushiro refused to budge from his crouching position. Hikari watched as Mimi begged for Koushiro to open up his arm to treat his wound, but Koushiro motioned her away from him, begging for her to leave him and to get away as quick as possible.

The squadron of DarkAirdramon then flapped their wings all at once and yelled, "Wing Cutter!" and then two blades of air came towards the group. Mimi yelled, "Koushiro! Get out of the way!" but Koushiro wouldn't move, so Mimi had to pull him away from the impact herself. She successfully saved Koushiro but got a deep cut on her shin, Mimi bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming in pain.

Takeru realized that Hikari wasn't paying attention to herself when watching Mimi help Koushiro, and as the blades of air came towards her, Takeru pulled Hikari out of the way in the nick of time. However they were so close to where the blade hit, that it knocked them both out instantaneously.

And at that very moment, Mimi was holding Koushiro in her arms, finding him unconscious because of a large loss of blood. Then Mimi found herself becoming light-headed, realizing the deep cut into her shin was oozing blood. Before she fell out of consciousness, Mimi begged for a miracle, "Cho… if you're out there, save us," and then she closed her eyes as the DarkAirdramon closed in for the kill…

"Mimi," a familiar voice called out, "Mimi, wake up," Mimi motioned for the familiar voice to leave her alone as she slept, until she was shaken violently, "MIMI! GET UP!" Then Mimi opened her eyes to find Hikari shaking her. Mimi looked at Hikari, she wore a rather pretty, pink princess dress, topped off with a cone-shaped hat attached with a sparkling ribbon. Mimi gave Hikari a stern face, and commented, "Nice hat,"

Hikari yelled, "Mimi! There isn't time for that, just look at what we're in!" Hikari revealed the rest of their room: a Medieval princess chamber, with two grand beds, the walls made of cobblestones, with two sets of well-furnished furniture, and there were grand, old oak doors that led to other parts. But Mimi gazed out the window instead. She found herself in a keep overlooking a grand castle, and surrounded by a Medieval-themed city. Then she looked at herself, Mimi wore a traditional Japanese Princess Kimono, and then gawked at the design. Mimi commented, "This is a terrible color for a Kimono… Hikari you want to trade dresses?"

"What the heck am I wearing?" Takeru yells, he just woke up to find himself wearing a shiny, well-plated knight's armor suit. He held a sword and a shield with the Crest of Hope imprinted on it, and then Takeru looked at Koushiro commenting, "What the heck are you wearing?"

Koushiro sighed, as he looked at his attire, a purple-colored traditional samurai kimono, he held two swords, one longer than the other. Koushiro still had the beetle-headset he always wore on his head. He looked out to a Medieval-themed city, with a Middle Age castle lying in the middle. Koushiro sighed again, remarking, "I really need a smoke now,"


End file.
